Tom Howell Jr.

Sebelius sticks to Obamacare sign-up deadline

President Obama’s top health official on Wednesday told Congress flatly that the administration will stick to the March 31 deadline requiring Americans to have health insurance, rejecting House GOP protests that the White House is giving breaks to special interests, but not to average voters. Published March 12, 2014

Sen. Marco Rubio says Dems are angling for single-payer health care: report

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says Democrats are "secretly and not so secretly" hoping to use Obamacare's missteps as leverage in seeking a single-payer system of government-run health insurance. Published March 12, 2014

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad wields big lead over likely Democratic opponent

Published March 12, 2014

Sen. Chris Murphy will parlay Obama’s foray into Web comedy into a formal floor speech

First President Obama's humorous Web interview went viral. Now it's a bona fide phenomenon, at least one Democratic senator said. Published March 12, 2014

Obamacare 3 million shy of target — with 19 days left to sign up

More than 4.2 million Americans had selected private health care plans from the Obamacare marketplace through the end of February, though the rate of sign-ups dropped last month and young people still aren't enrolling quickly enough, according to numbers the administration released Tuesday. Published March 11, 2014

President Obama goes ‘Between Two Ferns’ to pitch Obamacare

Hoping to reach a key Obamacare demographic, President Obama took his humorous side to a new level in a sit-down interview with Zach Galifianakis, a comedic actor who hosts the cable-access spoof show on the website Funny or Die. Published March 11, 2014

Obama administration backs off plan to cut prescription-drug program

Congressional Democrats expressed relief and Republican leaders did a victory lap Monday after the Obama administration said it will not implement proposed changes to the Medicare program's prescription-drug benefits. Published March 10, 2014

Prosecutors: Gray had firsthand knowledge of ‘shadow campaign’

Federal prosecutors said in court Monday that D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray knew firsthand of an illicit "shadow campaign" that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to his 2010 mayoral bid. Published March 10, 2014

Rate of uninsured Americans is dropping: Gallup

The Gallup polling group says the percentage of Americans without health insurance continued to fall in the first quarter of 2014, to nearly 16 percent compared to just over 17 percent at the end of 2013. Published March 10, 2014

Russia should be booted from FIFA World Cup, senators say

Sens. Dan Coats of Indiana and Mark Kirk of Illinois wrote to FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, pleading for him to bar President Vladimir Putin's team from the biggest sporting event in the world this summer. Published March 7, 2014

New tool helps figure Obamacare penalties

As Obamacare takes root, a think tank partnership is offering a new tool to let applicants know just how much they'll have to pony up to the government for lacking health insurance in the coming year. Published March 7, 2014

Tax-prep firms pitch in, cash in on Obamacare

With less than a month left for Americans to enroll in insurance plans under President Obama's health care overhaul, companies like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service may be the administration's secret weapon in getting people to sign up. Published March 6, 2014

Obama tries to reassure Hispanics on Obamacare

President Obama assured the Hispanic community on Thursday that personal information entered into Obamacare's web system will not be used to root out illegal immigrants for deportation. Published March 6, 2014

Half of uninsured look to Obamacare exchanges for coverage

Roughly half of uninsured adults and almost half of people without employer-based insurance had looked at or planned to check out the Obamacare marketplace to see what it offered, according to a new brief from the Urban Institute. Published March 6, 2014

Another Obamacare deadline moved: Non-compliant plans get 2-year extension

Announcing another change to the president's signature law, the Obama administration said Wednesday that it will let people keep subpar insurance plans through 2016, carving out another exception to Obamacare in a move Republicans said offers further proof that the law is hurting Americans' health and Democrats' election chances this fall. Published March 5, 2014

House votes to delay Obamacare individual mandate

Nearly 30 House Democrats ignored a veto threat by President Obama's and helped the GOP majority pass a bill Wednesday that would let people ignore this year's Obamacare penalty for not having health insurance. Published March 5, 2014

Rep. Dave Camp insists tax reform is possible

Rep. Dave Camp insisted Wednesday his plan to overhaul America's tax code can gain traction and pass this Congress, despite little appetite by key players to take it on in an election year and term limits that will edge him out as chairman of the House's tax committee in 2015. Published March 5, 2014